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Exodus 12

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1 And Jehovah said to Moses and to Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,

2 This month is to you the head of the months; it is the first for you of the months of the year.

3 Speak ye to all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth of this month they shall take to them, each·​·man a lamb, for the house of his fathers, a lamb for the house.

4 And if the house be too few for a lamb, then let him take, he and his neighbor near to his house; for the share of souls, a man for the mouth of his eating, you shall share the lamb.

5 A perfect lamb, a male, a son of a year shall be for you; you shall take it from the lambs and from the she-goats.

6 And it shall be for you to be kept even·​·to the fourteenth day of this month; and all the assembly of the congregation of Israel shall slaughter it between the two·​·evenings*.

7 And they shall take from the blood, and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel, on the houses in which they shall eat it.

8 And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roasted with fire, and things unleavened; upon bitter herbs they shall eat it.

9 Eat ye not of it raw, nor cooked by cooking in water, but roasted with fire; its head on its legs and on its midst.

10 And you shall not leave of it until the morning; and that which is left of it until the morning you shall burn·​·up with fire.

11 And in·​·this·​·manner you shall eat it: your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your stick in your hand; and you shall eat it in a rush; it is the Passover of Jehovah.

12 And I will pass·​·through the land of Egypt in that night, and I will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from man and even·​·to beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will do judgments; I am Jehovah.

13 And the blood shall be to you for a sign on the houses where you are; and I shall see the blood, and I will pass·​·over you, and there shall not be among you the stroke of the destroyer, in My smiting in the land of Egypt.

14 And this day shall be to you for a memorial; and you shall celebrate it as a festival to Jehovah for your generations; you shall celebrate as an eternal statute.

15 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread; surely on the first day you shall cause yeast to cease from your houses; for all who eat what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, even that soul shall be cut·​·off from Israel.

16 And there shall be for you in the first day a holy convocation, and in the seventh day a holy convocation; no work* at all shall be done in them, only that which every soul must eat, this alone shall be done by you.

17 And you shall keep the unleavened bread, for in this same day I have brought· your armies ·out from the land of Egypt; and you shall keep this day for your generations as an eternal statute.

18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, you shall eat what is unleavened, until the one and twentieth day of the month, in the evening.

19 Seven days yeast shall· not ·be·​·found in your houses; for all who eat that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut·​·off from the congregation of Israel, among the sojourner, and among the native of the land.

20 You shall not eat anything leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.

21 And Moses called all the elders of Israel, and said to them, Draw forth and take for yourselves an animal of the flock according to your families, and slaughter ye the Passover.

22 And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bowl, and you shall touch it to the lintel and to the two doorposts from the blood that is in the bowl; and you shall not go·​·out, a man from the entrance of his house until the morning.

23 And Jehovah will pass·​·through to strike Egypt; and He will see the blood on the lintel, and on the two doorposts, and Jehovah will pass·​·over the entrance, and will not allow the destroyer to come to your houses to strike you.

24 And you shall keep this word for a statute to thee and to thy sons even·​·to eternity.

25 And it shall be that when you shall come to the land which Jehovah will give you, as He has spoken, that you shall keep this service.

26 And it shall be, that your sons shall say to you, What is this service to you?

27 And you shall say, This is the sacrifice of the Passover to Jehovah, in that He passed·​·over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt, when He struck Egypt, and rescued our houses. And the people bent itself and bowed· themselves ·down*.

28 And the sons of Israel went and they did as Jehovah commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

29 And it was at midnight, and Jehovah smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh about to sit on his throne even·​·to the firstborn of the captive that was in the house of the pit; and all the firstborn of the beast.

30 And Pharaoh rose·​·up in that night, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was no house where there was no dead.

31 And he called Moses and Aaron in the night, and said, Arise, go· ye ·out from the midst of my people, both you and the sons of Israel; and go, serve Jehovah, according·​·to your speaking.

32 Also your flocks, also your herds, take ye, as you have spoken, and go; and bless, even me.

33 And Egypt was·​·firm upon the people, hastening to send them from the land; for they said, We are all dying.

34 And the people carried their dough before it was leavened, their kneading-troughs bundled in their raiment on their shoulder.

35 And the sons of Israel did according·​·to the word of Moses; and they asked from the Egyptians vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and raiment.

36 And Jehovah gave grace to the people in the eyes of the Egyptians, and they gave· them what they ·asked. And they spoiled the Egyptians.

37 And the sons of Israel journeyed from Rameses toward Succoth, about six hundred thousand footmen, the men besides infants.

38 And a mixed·​·crowd of many also went·​·up with them; and flock, and herd, very heavy with livestock.

39 And they baked the dough which they brought·​·out of Egypt into unleavened cakes, for it had not been leavened; for they were driven·​·out from Egypt, and were· not ·able to linger, and they had not even made provisions for themselves.

40 And the dwelling of the sons of Israel which they dwelt in Egypt was thirty years and four hundred years.

41 And it was at the end of the thirty years and four hundred years, and it was in this same day, all the armies of Jehovah went·​·out from the land of Egypt.

42 It is a night for·​·keeping to Jehovah, for bringing· them ·out from the land of Egypt; it is this night for·​·keeping to Jehovah for all the sons of Israel to their generations.

43 And Jehovah said to Moses and Aaron, This is the statute of the Passover: no son of a foreigner shall eat of it.

44 And every man’s servant who is bought with silver, when thou hast circumcised him, then he shall eat of it.

45 A lodger and a hireling shall not eat of it.

46 In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not bring·​·out of the flesh outside of the house; and you shall not break a bone in it.

47 All the assemblage of Israel shall do it.

48 And when a sojourner shall sojourn with thee, and does the Passover to Jehovah, every male of his shall be circumcised, and then let him come·​·near to do it; and he shall be as a native of the land; and every uncircumcised person shall not eat of it.

49 One law shall there be for the native, and for the sojourner who sojourns in your midst.

50 And all the sons of Israel did as Jehovah commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

51 And it was in this same day, that Jehovah brought·​·out the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt by their armies.

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

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Arcana Coelestia # 9828

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9828. 'And a belt' means a common bond to ensure that everything has the same end in view. This is clear from the meaning of 'a belt' or girdle as a common bond; for it gathers together, encloses, holds in connection within itself, and strengthens everything within, which without it would fall apart and drift away. The reason why it is a common bond whose purpose is to ensure that everything has the same end in view is that in the spiritual world the end in view holds sway, so much so that everything there should be called an end. For the Lord's kingdom, which is a spiritual world, is a kingdom of useful services, and such services there are ends in view, so that it is a kingdom of ends. But the ends there follow one another in various order, and they also stand in association with one another. The ends which follow one another are called middle ends, but those which stand in association with one another are called associate ends. All these ends have been so linked together and made subordinate to one another that without exception they have one end in view. This end is the Lord; and in heaven, among those who accept it, it is a love of and faith in Him. Love there is the end in view of all the powers of the will there, and faith is the end in view of all the powers of thought, which are those of the understanding.

[2] When every single thing has the same end in view all things are then held in uninterrupted connection and make one; for everything is then under the eye, government, and providence of the One who, acting in accord with the laws of subordination and association, turns everyone towards Himself, and thereby joins them to Himself. At the same time He turns all to face their companions, and thereby joins them to one another. This explains why the faces of all who are in heaven are kept turned towards the Lord, who is the Sun there, and so is the centre point in front of everyone's eyes; and the marvel is that He is there in whatever direction angels turn round to face, 3638. And since the Lord is present within the good of mutual love and within the good of charity towards the neighbour - for all are loved by Him, and are joined to one another by Him through love - their regard for their companions, which that love gives them, also serves to turn them towards the Lord.

[3] Those things therefore on last and lowest levels, gathering others together and enclosing them so they may be held, every single one, in such connection, were represented by belts or girdles, which in the spiritual world are nothing other than the forms of good and the truths present on lowest or outermost levels which enclose more internal ones. Celestial forms of good on lowest or outermost levels were represented by girdles that went around the loins, and spiritual forms of good and truths on those levels by girdles that went around the thighs and also around the breast.

[4] Such things are meant by 'girdles around the loins' in the following places: In Jeremiah,

Jehovah said to the prophet, Buy yourself a linen girdle, and place it over your loins; but you are not to pass it through water. I therefore bought a girdle, and placed it over my loins. Then the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Take the girdle, and go away to the Euphrates, and hide it in the cleft of a rock. At the end of many days I went away to the Euphrates, and took the girdle, and behold, it was ruined; it was profitable for nothing. Then Jehovah said, This people is evil, refusing to hear My words; and they have gone after other gods. Therefore they will be just like this girdle that is profitable for nothing. Jeremiah 13:1-12.

'A linen girdle' here is used to mean in the spiritual sense the Church's good, which encloses the truths there and holds them in connection within itself. The non-existence of the Church's good at that time, and the consequent dispersal of its truths, are the reason for its being said that the girdle was not to be passed through water; for 'water' means truth that purifies and thereby restores. 'The cleft of a rock' in which it was hidden is falsified truth; 'the Euphrates' is the full extent and boundary of the celestial realities that belong to good on its lowest level. Anyone unacquainted with the essential nature of the Word may think that the passage is no more than a comparison of the people and their ruination with a girdle and its ruination. But in the Word all comparisons and metaphorical ways of speaking are real correspondences, 3579, 8989. Unless each detail in this description were of a correspondential nature the prophet would never have been told not to pass the girdle through water, or to place it over his loins, or to go to the Euphrates and hide it there in the cleft of a rock. The reason why it says that the girdle should be placed over his loins is that by 'the loins', because of their correspondence, is meant the good of celestial love, 3021, 4280, 5050-5062. A girdle placed over the loins accordingly means being joined to the Lord through the good of love, the Word serving as the intermediary.

[5] The meaning of 'a girdle' as good that acts as a boundary and holds things together is also evident in Isaiah,

There will come forth a shoot from the trunk of Jesse. Righteousness will be the girdle of His loins, and truth the girdle of His thighs. Isaiah 11:1, 5.

This refers to the Lord. 'Righteousness' that will be 'the girdle of His loins' is the good of His love, which protects heaven and the Church. The requirement stated in Exodus 12:11 that when the children of Israel ate the Passover their loins were to be girded means that all things should be present in their proper order, made ready to receive good from the Lord and to take action, 7863. This explains why those who have been made ready are said to be 'girded', as is also said of the seven angels in the Book of Revelation,

Out of the temple came the seven angels having the seven plagues, clothed in linen, white and splendid, and girded around their breasts with golden girdles. Revelation 15:6.

[6] It is said of Elijah in 2 Kings 1:8 that he was a hairy man and wore a girdle of skin around his loins. Much the same is said of John,

John had a garment of camel hair and a skin girdle around his waist. Matthew 3:4.

The reason why Elijah and John were clothed and girded in this way was that both men represented the Word, and therefore their clothes mean the Word in its external sense, which is the natural sense. For 'hair' means the natural, 3301, 5247, 5569-5573, and 'camels' general facts within the natural, 3048, 3071, 3143, 3145. And 'skin' means the external, 3540, so that 'a girdle of skin' means that which collects together, encloses, and holds in connection the things within itself. For the representation of Elijah as the Word, see Preface to Genesis 18, and 2762, 5247 (end), and John the Baptist similarly, 9372.

[7] Since truths and forms of good are dissolved and dispersed by wicked deeds it says of Joab that after he had tricked and killed Abner he put the blood of war on his girdle that was on his loins, 1 Kings 2:5. This means that he dispersed and destroyed such truths and forms of good. This accounts for its being said, when truths have been dispersed and destroyed, that instead of a girdle there will be a falling apart, and instead of well-set hair, baldness, Isaiah 3:24. This refers to the daughters of Zion, by whom forms of good belonging to the celestial Church are meant. 'Instead of a girdle, a falling apart' stands for the dispersal of celestial good.

[8] It is also said in Ezekiel of Oholibah, who is Jerusalem, that when she looked at men portrayed on the wall, images of Chaldeans portrayed in vermilion, girded with girdles on their loins, she fell in love with them, Ezekiel 23:14-16. Here truths which have been rendered profane are meant, for 'the Chaldeans' are those who outwardly claim to believe in truths but inwardly repudiate them, and in so doing render them profane. 'Men portrayed on the wall' are the appearances of truth in outward things, as in like manner are 'images portrayed in vermilion'. 'Girdles' with which their loins were girded are the forms of good which they fake to induce belief in their truths.

[9] From all this it may now be clear what it was that girdles gathering garments into one served to mean in the representative Church. Yet the natural man can scarcely be brought to believe that such things were meant, because he finds it difficult to put aside the natural idea of a girdle, and in general of garments, and instead adopt a spiritual idea, which is that of good holding truths in connection within itself. For the natural level on which a person sees things holds the mind down on that level, and it is not removed from there unless the sight of the understanding is able to be raised right up into the light of heaven and the person is for this reason able to think on a level virtually divorced from natural things. When this happens to a person spiritual ideas of the truth of faith and of the good of love, which the merely natural man cannot understand, enter in.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.